Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Universal values? I'm confused.

Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton (along with other left-of-the-aisle talking heads) have used the term "universal values" when speaking about what's transpiring in Egypt.

That confused me. I thought there were no "universal values" or "universal rights." I thought differences (i.e. leaving girl babies on a beach to die) were cultural differences... Or has that now changed?

In college one of my uber-libby professors and I would battle to the death over this. He informed me that I couldn't impose my cultural expectations on other lands...and it was incredibly (and embarrassingly) jingoistic of me to expect others to adhere to American standards/practices...